The Lifestyle of a Vegetarian

One of the biggest injustices that the vegetarian movement has endured is that in
popular culture, the image of a vegetarian is that of a fanatic hippy or cult
member who is "off the deep end" and cannot think about anything else besides
"saving a cow" and pushing vegetarianism on everyone he meets. The truth is that
the lifestyle of a vegetarian is not that different than everyone else in the
culture. In fact, the odds are that somewhere in your social circle at work,
school, church or in your family and friends network, you already know several
people who are quietly enjoying the lifestyle of a vegetarian. So to help us get
over the negative stereotypes to understand how a vegetarian actually lives, lets
examine what is different about a vegetarians life.

The most significant difference in how a vegetarian lives is obvious because it is

in how he or she eats. You will not find any meat in a vegetarian's kitchen. Now
this doesn�t mean that a vegetarian cannot live in a family and be at peace with
meat eaters. If the home has one vegetarian but others who are not, you will be
able to tell from the presence of soy and perhaps more fruit and fresh vegetables
in the refrigerator. But the idea that vegetarians cannot be around meat eaters is
false. If anything vegetarians are peace loving and can live their lifestyle
around others who are not of their belief system very well.

Grocery shopping with a vegetarian is an eye opening experience and one that is
quite different in more ways than you would suspect. Being a vegetarian isn't just
about what you don't eat in that you don't eat meat. It is also about a completely
different approach to diet and foods. So you will not see a vegetarian buying food
in the same way most people do. There will be much more time spent in the fresh
produce section of the grocery store. The checkout basket of a vegetarian will
give him or her away every time because it will be overflowing with fresh foods.

But shopping for food with a vegetarian means shopping in other places than the
local grocery store. It means buying grains and beans in bulk at a warehouse store
because that is one way that a vegetarian maintains health by replacing the protein
and other nutrients that the rest of the world gets from meat and replacing it with
proteins from beans and other natural foods. It also means shopping in farmer's
markets and even shopping in a vegetarian specialty store for some high nutrition
meat substitutes like tofu.

The vegetarian movement is in harmony with many of the earth first movements such
as the organic movement and the green movement. So a vegetarian kitchen will have
more organic foods on hand to reduce the presence of harmful pesticides and other
substances in the diet. Also vegetarianism affects the lifestyle beyond just the
refrigerator and the pantry. You will not find leather clothing in a vegetarian's
closet and you wont find fur there either. That is became for the most part
vegetarians are sensitive to animal rights and they don't want to see the skin of
animals used in their clothing.

The house of a vegetarian will also be a recycling house to do all that is possible
to cut down on waste and to be earth friendly. Along with recycling bottles and
cans as you might expect, a vegetarian recycles a lot right at home. A recycling
home will often have a compost pile in the yard for food waste and it will also
support a good sized garden to use that compost to grow at home organic foods to
supplement a healthy diet.

For obvious reasons, a vegetarian will have vegetarian friends and belong to social
groups and attend functions that support the vegetarian lifestyle. Eating out with
a vegetarian will mean going to more ethnic food restaurants and you will see a lot
of creativity in how to order foods in a restaurant. But contrary to popular
opinion, vegetarian eating is more flavorful and diverse than the normal diet.
Just spending a day with a vegetarian will reveal to you a more harmonious
lifestyle that is sensitive to the environment and at peace with itself. It is a
healthy and happy lifestyle and one that should be attractive to all of us.

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